I asked… Did you look at it? (Ed Bassmaster style)

F-350 transfer case.

It's now Nisson.

Found one for the wall!!

This guy came in for some air in his tires. My co-workers being car enthusiasts, were very intrigued by the car. I was intrigued as well, but I prefer to admire from a distance.

There were 5 of these idiots on the highway in a caravan. All 5 had the same high quality tow setup.

330k ‘09 Cobalt with regular oil changes and EPRs. Was originally planning on doing chins and guides, but they were as tight as day one, and guides showed no signs of grooving.

Here is hoping to another uneventful 300k+ !!

Umm,

Went to a chain mechanic by me for exhaust leak issues. The first time was shotty welding(let me know if you want to see that) and the last time was this. After the check engine light didn’t turn off like they told me it would. The code reader said it was the O2 sensor so I replaced it myself and this is what I found when I was swapping it out.

I lost access to my old account, but long time lurker and worker, first time poster. (my personal classic for intrigue, 1990 safari GT)

I had been working on cars for ages, thought I was being safe, but I forgot about low level head protection like skullcaps, (its a thin hardhat basically that can go inside a hat or is manufactured into it)

I took a couple of bad hits recently that ended any chance of me ever working or driving ever again and it was as simple as taking a hood to the head that ended it, it hit me hard enough to give me a head injury that induced major neurological symptoms and I have been relegated to a wheelchair.

I am making this post as warning to every working mechanic, DIY'er and long time professional, get a skullcap, second skull, whatever just prioritize head and neck protection where you can, because you really really don't appreciate what you have until its gone.

Do the damn daily stretches too, helps a ton.

Seriously though, I ran my body into the ground and am paying the closest thing to the ultimate price without dying, I live in agony and may never drive again, let alone hold a wrench.

Im gonna stick around the subreddiit because I love it here and love seeing the chaos, makes me feel warm and fuzzy.

Heed my warning and stay safe, to all of you and I wish you well! For me, im gonna "enjoy" my "early retirement"!

Have a lovely day!

Just came from the tire shop for an inspection. So close.

But I had a bolt, and angle grinder, and a drill.

Looking back, my Dad was laughably bad at fixing cars. He would do it to save a buck because we didn't have much. A couple of the things I saw as a kid were:

On an early 90s GM with a 3.1, to replace the alternator and serpentine belt, he CUT the old belt, and got the alternator changed. To put the new belt on, he didn't know you could use a ratchet in the tensioner square hole. So he routed the belt then used a crowbar and a flathead screw driver under the new belt to force it up and over the alternator pulley. I was a kid so I thought this was the way it was done.

He never replaced a rotor on a brake job. He would leave them on the car and sandpaper any grooves the best he could, then slap on new pads. Always with the C clamp to push the piston in. One time he was doing rear discs on a Nissan, and he pushed the piston so hard, the C clamp bent! He finally broke down and asked AutoZone how to do it and they lent him the tool to turn the piston in counterclockwise.

Wires always twisted together with electric tape over the joint if they needed to be spliced together. Didn't know anything about soldering or butt connectors.

Water pumps, he never just used a gasket. He didn't trust them. He would slather a ton of RTV on the water pump housing, the waterpump, and the gasket. Black goo would be everywhere around the mating when he was done.

Crush washers for the oil drain plug? When he would lose them, once again, slather the hell out of RTV around the drain plug and bolt it in.

We lived in an area with no inspection. His catalytic converter plugged up on an S10. It would struggle to go over 40mph, so he got under there and drilled about 20 holes in it. It actually drove fine afterwards but sounded like hell.

He was a sucker for oil and gas additives. Any misfires could be fixed with that stuff in his eyes. Changing spark plugs, if he could get to them, he'd changed them. Any hard to reach ones, well they can stay there for 200k miles.

1992 Chevy Silverado 2500 that's been converted into a plough truck. Don't worry, it won't be out on any public roads, just used for our parking lot.

Im seriously tired of keeping track of what special tool I need to work on something particular. You need to install a rear main seal on a 6.7 PS? Special tool. Need to install a front crank seal? Another special tool. Need to remove the rear bearing locks on a 2020+ dually Silverado? You need another special tool. Same for a Ram. Same for putting in an output shaft seal on a 6r140 with a non slip yoke output shaft.

I could go on and on with how many special tools I have or the shop has, just to do what most would consider a “routine” repair. Half the jobs I do I have to wait for the shop or myself to get the special tool so I can do the job, and it’s driving me up a wall.

I think this is how manufacturers get around the “right to repair” act, claiming “oh you don’t need to take your truck to a dealer, you just need a $700 special tool that only the dealer sells”. Its fucking infuriating